Almost a third of schools are failing to provide children with a good standard
of education, Ofsted warned today.

Inspectors said some 30 per cent of primaries and secondaries in England were no better than satisfactory.

In its annual report, the watchdog also warned that too many schools were "stubbornly" under-performing.

According to figures, around one-in-seven have been judged merely "satisfactory" - Ofsted's second-lowest rating - twice in a row, with little capacity to get better.

The conclusion comes just weeks after David Cameron warned that hundreds of schools in England were "coasting".

In an article for The Daily Telegraph, the Prime Minister said there was a “shocking gap” between the best and worst schools and that the “secret failure” of comprehensives in wealthy shires and market towns was as significant as the problems facing schools in deprived, inner-city areas.

Related Articles

He said that while it was “relatively easy” to identify problem schools, it was just as important to tackle those that were "content to muddle through".

Miriam Rosen, the Ofsted chief inspector, said key changes to the inspection process would boost the "rate of progress being made".

"It is of great concern, however, to see the high numbers of schools, colleges and childcare providers that are consistently delivering services for children and young people that are no better than satisfactory," she added.

Under a new inspection regime, Ofsted now focus more attention on schools previously rated inadequate or satisfactory. Those named as "good" or "outstanding" are only inspected if concerns are raised by parents, teachers or local councils.

According to today's report, 44 per cent of schools inspected in the last year were given the bottom two ratings, compared with 45 per cent a year earlier.

But figures that look at the most recent rating for all schools - not just those inspected in 2010/11 - show 30 per cent were judged not good enough overall. This compares with 33 per cent 12 months earlier.

Some 20 per cent were outstanding, 50 per cent were good, 28 per cent satisfactory and two per cent were inadequate.

Ofsted also criticised the quality of teaching in too many state schools, saying it was holding pupils back.

In the report, the watchdog said: "The quality of teaching in our schools is still too variable: too much is satisfactory and too little outstanding teaching was seen in the schools inspected this year.

"Satisfactory teaching does not deliver good progress for pupils in the most challenging circumstances."

According to figures, just three per cent of lessons in secondary schools and four per cent in primaries were judged outstanding.

From next year, Ofsted's inspection system will be further reformed to focus on four key areas - teaching, leadership, pupil behaviour and achievement.